Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry. And I know it doesn’t change the last fifteen years, but I really am.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “It was too much to leave on a sixteen-year-old kid.”
“Thanks.” That was enough emotion for me for the day. “Let’s head back, my hands are freezing.”
Reed nodded, and we turned around, walking the path back toward the house.
“So you and Callie…” He lifted his eyebrows.
“None of your business.” I sipped my coffee.
“Not a denial.”
“Not your business.”
He laughed. “Yeah, okay. Point made. But you have to know that when you start elevating her to the same level as our mom, it’s a dead giveaway.”
“Why? Callie’s a fantastic mom. She’s dedicated to Sutton in every single way. She’s carved out a life here for them, and there’s not a decision she makes that doesn’t have Sutton’s best interest at heart.” Except for being with me.
“Tell me more about this paragon.” Reed grinned and we ducked under a branch.
“She’s none of your business.” There were a thousand ways to describe Callie. Perfect. Loving. Hot as hell. Kind. Smart. Fierce. But none of that was anything Reed needed to know. “You and Ava are getting married, right?” Fuck, here I was with the small talk.
“Next November. We’re planning for the week before opening.”
“Good. I’m glad she makes you happy.” We neared the end of the path.
“And what makes you happy, Weston?”
“Not talking about what makes me happy,” I muttered.
“Says the emotionally evolved male,” he joked.
We walked into the cul-de-sac and headed up my driveway.
“Listen…” he started.
I turned my back on the house to face him.
“I really am sorry for not being here. I need you to know that. I need you to understand that if I could go back—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted. “Don’t say you would go back and change it, because what’s done is done. Look at all this.” I motioned around the little circle of employee duplexes. “Okay, imagine we’re still looking down on the resort, that’s a little more impressive.”
Reed snorted.
“None of this would be ours right now if you hadn’t left and gone off to college. Dad would have sold it. We still have Madigan Mountain because you went to school for business and have the expertise to run this place. I can’t be sorry about that.”
“Thought you hated it here?” His smirk looked a little too much like mine.
“It’s growing on me.” I shrugged. “And it’s home.”
“Good, because I wasn’t going to say I would have changed anything,” he said gently.
Now I was the one raising my brows.
“If I’d stayed here, I would never have met Ava back in Vermont. And as much pain as there is to go around when it comes to our pasts, she’s the one thing I can’t live without. I wouldn’t be me without her. I can’t regret anything that brought me to her.”
I smiled. “Good. That’s what love is supposed to be like, right? The whole nothing matters but her mentality?”
“I guess.” His eyes drifted over my shoulder.
“I’m happy for you, I really am.” I smacked his shoulder. “I also won’t be joining you in that emotion…ever.”
Reed’s face fell.
“Oh, come on, like that’s a big surprise. Sorry, but you’re braver than I am, Reed. The only woman I’ve ever loved is our mom, and losing her? I’m never fucking feeling that ever again. Period.”
“Weston,” Reed hissed, his gaze jumping to mine and back over my shoulder.
I turned to see what he was worried about, and my heart leaped into my throat.
Callie stood on our porch, well within hearing distance, and the look on her face hit me straight in the chest. It was complete and total devastation. I moved toward her, and she blinked it away, leaving only a welcoming smile and bright eyes. I almost wouldn’t have believed I’d seen the heartbreak, but it had been there, sharp enough to cut through me.
“Enjoy your walk?” she asked. “I was just thinking about going to the store.” She spun her key ring around her finger.
“We both survived,” Reed said.
“Good.” She nodded. “Excellent.” Then she turned on her heel and walked into the house.
“I thought she was going to the store,” Reed muttered.
“Guess not.” I stared at our front door like I could see through it.
“Okay, well, thanks for the coffee.” Reed pressed the travel mug into my empty hand. “And good luck with that.”
“Good luck with what?” I shot him a look.
“Women you’re sleeping with typically don’t like it when you proclaim that you’re never going to join them in the four-letter-word department, and no, I don’t mean the fun one that starts with F.” He slapped me on the back.
“That’s not the problem,” I muttered. “Trust me, Callie knows the score.” I’d told her from the get-go that I was against attachments, period. But the look on her face…
“Right.” He waved at me and climbed into his car. “I’ll see you later.”